Format: Ebook, 264 pages
Release Date: January 17, 2020
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy
New world, new rules . . .
Alex is screwed. She’s due at the fae Court of Enchantment in less than twenty-four hours, but she’s not even close to being ready. Her job is hanging by a fraying thread. There’s a new vampire master in town. And several of her werewolf friends have been captured by the Paranatural Task Force.
She’s their best chance for release before the full moon reveals their secret, but the Lord of Enchantment is not someone you keep waiting—even when he happens to be your grandfather. All Alex can do is call in a favor, hope to hell she can survive the plots of the fae court, and hightail it home to salvage her life.
One mistake at court could change everything . . . .
Faerie Forged, by L.R. Braden, is the third installment in the authors The Magicsmith series. Protagonist & metalsmith Alyssandra "Alex" Blackwood has her hands full in this story. For those who have not yet started this series, Alex is 1/2 fae, 1/2 human who can easily handle metals that other fae shy away from. She is also called an Imbuer, which means she is capable of imbuing objects with specific memory, emotion, thought, or enchantment. Alex's biggest worry is for PTF to discover that she's an unregistered halfie which would mean an end to her freedom.
The Paranormal Task Force is charged with enforcing the treaty that ended the Faerie Wars and maintaining peace between humans and all things paranatural. The peace treaty stipulates that any full-blooded fae must live on
one of the fae reservations, and must receive permission from the
PTF to travel through or temporarily reside on human land. Halfers can
live anywhere, but they must register with the PTF and are restricted
from holding "sensitive" jobs, like police, teacher, government
employee, etc. Any halfer
found lying about their true nature is arrested and extradited to a
reservation for a minimum of one year before they are allowed to
petition for probationary status.
As the story opens, Alex is 24 hours away from traveling to the Fae Court of Enchantment where she has been summoned by her grandfather. Thanks to Malakai (Kai) and Hortense drilling her with all things Fae, Alex may have a chance not to embarrass herself. In the meantime, her personal life is slowly unraveling. She loses her job, the PTF are collecting potentials (those who have been reported for magical behavior) and the new Colorado governor is a member of the Purity Campaign which wants to get rid of anyone paranormal.
Those "collected" are Marc, Sarah, and Oz who are not necessarily friends, but have become allies of Alex. Alex calls in a favor from her once guardian, Solomon Adams who also works for the PTF. Alex's biggest antagonist in this series is PTF agent Benjamin O'Connell who is not only stalking Alex to see if she makes a mistake, but targeting anyone who has had any contact with Alex. This could be anyone from Maggie, her human boss, to her roommates Kai, Chase, and Jynx along with Emma who is a practitioner.
The next part of the story takes place in Faerie where Alex meets her grandfather Bael, Lord of Enchantment who gave her a charm that made her Fae blood stronger. She can now see through glamour, read imbued memories, and move faster than before. Alex is told in no uncertain terms not to be herself and to keep her temper at all times. Alex is a means to an end while Bael is a target for those who want to see him gone.
The perfect storm. Fae purists hate halfies and don't exactly fall all over themselves to like Alex. They intentionally bait Alex into an unwanted challenge that has consequences. The Fae are not unlike the Human Purity campaign in that regard. The point of Alex visiting Faerie was that Bael wanted to teach her how to imbue objects using magic which nobody has done so to this point. She's kind of hit and miss along the way into creating her owns items. What she ends up with instead is a bad taste in her mouth for Faerie and no plans of returning any time soon.
The final part of this book deals with Alex against the PTF and personal issues with so called friends and allies. I absolutely need the next book in the series after that cliffhanger-y ending. I foresee even more greater danger to Alex and her friends after what happens under duress and pressure. I also don't even care if Sophie and Alex become friends again. Sophie made her bed with her actions in previous installments and now she can stew in her own hatred for it. It's fair to say that a second Faerie War is now closer than ever. It will be interesting to see who falls on what side of the war.
very pretty cover and i do love my paranormal stories. a task force makes this super interesting
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental